POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Given who Rider’s opponent was Monday night, this wasn’t a cause for celebration, nor was it a clear sign that the Broncs are turning their season around.

Yet Rider, a team in the midst of a deep and perplexing slump, looked like the team many thought it would be at the beginning of the season.

In an 84-62 rout of woeful Marist, the Broncs were everything they haven’t been over the past month: Fast-paced, highly efficient, and in the end, winners of a game that was over after the opening minutes.

“A step in the right direction,” coach Tommy Dempsey said. “We got off to a good start. I thought we really got out in transition and controlled the tempo of the game.”

If Rider (10-8 overall, 3-3 MAAC) is going to have the season it has envisioned, the Broncs will need to perform against teams far better than the Red Foxes (1-15, 1-5).

Yet when Rider and Marist met earlier this season in Lawrenceville, the Foxes had a chance to take the lead in the final minute, and the Broncs escaped with a 55-51 win.

Last night could hardly have been more different.

Rider scored on its opening possession and never trailed. The Broncs went on a 21-4 run to blow it open mid-way through the first half and led 49-28 at the break. They led by as many as 35 and could have won by 40 or more had Dempsey not emptied his bench mid-way through the second half.

“It felt good,” Dempsey said. “It felt like we were playing Rider basketball. The ball was moving up and down the court and being shared.”

Ryan Thompson, wearing Harris Mansell’s old No. 32 jersey after his was ripped in the opening minutes, scored 21 points to lead Rider. Jhamar Youngblood provided an early spark off the bench and finished with a season-high 17, while Pat Mansell and Mike Ringgold added 11 apiece.